Cole and Son was founded in 1875 by John Perry, son of a
Cambridgeshire merchant. In those days the company was
situated in Islington, north London, an area famous for the
190 hand block printing companies working there in the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Throughout the 19th century Cole & Son printed for all the
large well-known companies of the time including Jeffrey &
Co, Sanderson and Shand Kydd. In addition to high quality
block printing, the company was renowned for supplying
beautiful stripes and jaspes.
In the early days the company built machines that allowed
the re-introduction of the process of pan coating and also
revived the process of Flocking, invented in Holland in
1680, imitating cut velvet.
In 1941 the company was bought by A P Cole, proprietor of
the company Cole & Son (Wallpapers) Ltd, with showrooms and
offices at Mortimer Street in Central London.
The Cole & Son block archive includes designs produced by J
C Crace & Son to furnish many stately homes, palaces,
castles and theatres throughout Britain and overseas,
including the wallpaper designs of A W Pugin for the Palace
of Westminster.

The amalgamation of the two businesses in 1941 meant that
Cole & Son became the custodians of the most significant
collection of wooden printing blocks in Britain.
In 1949, Cole’s Design Director created one of the first
screen print studios in Europe in response to the
revolutionary new Contemporary design movement which gave
birth to the wild wallpaper designs of the 1950s and 1960s.
Today, the Cole & Son archive consists of approximately
1,800 block print designs, 350 screen print designs and a
huge quantity of original drawings and wallpapers,
representing all the styles from the 18th, 19th and early
20th centuries. Amongst these are some of the most important
historic wallpaper designs in the world. Cole & Son has
provided wallpapers for many historic houses including
Buckingham Palace, The White House and the Houses of
Parliament.
Our magnificent archive is the major source of new
collections. Designs are carefully selected, adapted and
coloured by the Design Studio and printed by craftsmen to
produce wallpapers faithful to the character of the original
document, yet contemporary in feel.
Cole & Son continues to produce innovative and beautiful
designs, and our current collections reflect our long and
distinguished history as well as our continuing passion for
new and exciting wallpapers.